Side dishes are the very heart and soul of southern cuisine. So proclaims Fred Thompson in this heartfelt love letter to the marvelous foods on the side of the plate. From traditional, like Pableaux's Red Beans and Rice, to contemporary, like Scuppernong-Glazed Carrots, Thompson's 250 recipes recommend the virtues of the utterly simple and the totally unexpected. Fred Thompson's Southern Sides celebrates the sheer joy of cooking and eating these old and new classic dishes.

Exploring the importance of side dishes in the cuisine of the American South, Thompson suggests that if you look closely enough, you can find a historical tale of family, culture, and ethnicity in one awesome recipe after another. Twelve richly illustrated chapters feature a full array of produce, grains and beans, fish and meats, and more. The recipes are enhanced by Thompson's amusing observations, tales of southern living and eating, and straightforward cooking tips. Thompson also provides menus for special occasions throughout the year--for Thanksgiving, you may want to include Twice-Baked Sweet Potatoes with Sage, Sorghum, and Black Walnuts.

Fred Thompson is a food, wine, and travel writer and is publisher of Edible Piedmont. He is author of ten cookbooks, including Barbecue Nation: 350 Hot-off-the-Grill, Tried-and-True Recipes from America's Backyard and The Big Book of Fish and Shellfish: More than 250 Terrific Recipes. He is the Weekend Gourmet columnist for the Raleigh News and Observer.

Reviews

“The flavors here are big. . . . [Thompson] has a missionary’s fervor for the sides and vegetables that he calls, in his introduction, ‘the apex of Southern cooking.’”--The New York Times

"Once you tuck into this book, you may never want to move on to the main course."--Garden & Gun Editors' favorite

“The recipes in Thompson’s 11th cookbook reflect where life has taken him --the down-home classics he learned from his grandmothers, mother and aunts to modern dishes influenced by well-respected Southern chefs."--Raleigh News and Observer

“Thompson throws down with great suggestions for the neglected part of the plate.”--New Orleans Times-Picayune

"[A] cookbook that brings so much more to the table than recipe listings. . . . Southerners will get a nice dose of nostalgia and comfort from these recipes, and non-southerners will get a great glimpse into a culture that cannot be explained, only experienced. All readers will also continue the rich traditions of these great meals by creating new memories through them."--Okra Magazine